1000 Years
by IirieCadence
Summary: She was a servant girl without a future. He was a prince without a friend. Ever since they were kids, she had given him friendship, followed him as if he were the most powerful and amazing thing in Asgard. But could he give her a future? Would he?


When we were children, we never thought about the friendships we made. We just made them. When you're young, you don't care about rank, not past the bragging rights, anyway. Why, then, should anyone be surprised that a prince, upon losing his ball, would not remember the girl who retrieved it for him?

He sat on his ankles, leaned against a pillar, looking dejectedly down the hall where it had bounced. Really, he didn't care to get it back; he was losing the game. His brother was older, and had always been stronger and more athletic. He himself didn't care to be reminded about that. In all truth, he hadn't even wanted to start the game. But then, he wasn't in charge.

He just sat, staring, when she peeked out of the hall doorway. She glanced around for a moment before she saw him. Her eyes widened a little, but when he just stared back with absolutely no change in expression, she relaxed a little and half stepped out.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi."

"You're the prince, right? Or one of them?"

"Yup."  
She glanced behind her, and then looked back at him. "I think...I think your ball is in here."

"I know it is."

"Don't you want me to get it for you?"

"Not really."

She eyed him curiously. He felt like looking away, but he didn't want to lose a staring contest with a girl, so he looked right back.

"Won't your brother want it?"

"Probably."

She looked harder. The boy frowned.

"It's rude to stare, you know. I could have you thrown in jail for staring at me."

The girl dropped her eyes for a moment and turned red. "Oh...yeah."

She bobbed her head and disappeared down the hall again. He shifted and for a split second almost felt bad that she had left so suddenly, but before he had time to think that she popped back into sight.

"You're absolutely sure you don't want your ball?"

"Why do you want to get it so badly?"

That seemed to surprise the girl. She blinked at him, then shook her head. "I don't know. I'm a servant and you're a prince. I'm supposed to serve you, aren't I?"

The boy jumped down from the ledge he was sitting on and stood up straight in front of her. She was almost as tall as he was, but not quite.

"What's your name?" he asked, folding his arms.

Her eyes were wide again, as if she were suddenly terrified of him, and she looked like she was holding her breath.

"You can talk, you know."

She blew out a breath, not taking her eyes off him, and suddenly the corners of her mouth twitched up.

"You know, you're actually not that scary."

This was a surprise. He frowned again, trying to look menacing. "I can be, if I want."

The girl nodded emphatically, always looking him straight in the eye. "I know! But...you don't always want to, do you?"

The boy thought about this for a moment, then nodded slowly. "No. Not often, actually." He began to return her stare, which she didn't soften, with growing curiosity.

They stood still, eyeing each other.

"You didn't answer my question," the boy said suddenly.

"Oh...sorry," she replied, "I'm Alya."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You don't have your father's name?"

"Don't know my father. Or my mother, before you ask."

"Oh..."

"It's alright, though. I never did know them, so I don't miss them, you know?"

"I suppose."

There was a pause.

"Well?" Alya said.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"You already know it."

"Not really. I just know you're one of the princes. Which one?"

"Loki."

"Oh!"

"What?"

Alya looked at him closely, though she kept her distance. "Do you cause as much trouble as Adisa says you do?"

Loki grinned. "Probably. What does she say?"

"She said it was you who put the tonic in Lord Kirl's belirig's drinking water, the day it went crazy and almost threw its master into the Great Lake."

"Ha! She didn't tell you half. I also tied its tail to the saddle beneath its belly, so that when it tried to run, it kept falling and rolling over to try to get its balance back, all while Kirl was still in the saddle. You should have seen it!" His eyes flashed at the memory.

Alya dared a half smile, though her eyes were round again. "Aren't you scared though? What if you should be caught?"

"I don't have to be," Loki replied with a shrug, "Naturally, everyone blames any sort of mischief on me. It's not hard to get a reputation around here by the time you're my age."

"How old are you?"

"Five hundred and seventy."

"Really? You're not adding a few years to look older, are you?"

"Of course not!"

"I wish you were, though," Alya sighed, "I'm five and sixty six."

"Not bad," Loki said, nodding and trying to look wise, "I remember when I was five and sixty six."

"Well I should hope so, seeing as how it was only four years ago."

Loki shot her a look. "Four years is a long enough time."

Alya shrugged. "Long enough, maybe, but not too long."

"You're starting to be rude again."

"Are you going to start being scary again?" Alya reached up and held her right elbow with her left hand, looking him right in the eye even though she seemed a bit afraid again.

Loki looked back. She was almost his height, but not quite. Almost his age, too. She watched him intently, but really she wasn't rude. She was almost...nice. She was nice. And he liked to talk to her, he discovered suddenly. She was interesting.

"No," he finally replied, dropping his hands to his hips, his voice relaxed, and a hint of a smile in his big eyes. "I don't think I want to be scary around you."

Alya sighed in relief and smiled widely. "Oh, good. I like you when you aren't scary." She suddenly turned a deep red all the way to the tips of her ears. "That's...that's okay to say, right?"

Loki made a mental effort to push the rushing blood away from his face. "Yes. That's okay."

* * *

**Hey everybody! Hope you liked this first chapter! :D I've always had this story in my head, but when I heard Christina Perri's song "100 Years", everything just fell into place. I'm really excited about this, because Loki is one of my all time favorite villains. Plus, everyone says that he would be different if he had someone who understood him, and supported him. I want to explore the possibility that if there _was_ someone like that in his life, would it actually change anything? This should be fun...**

**Quick note on pronunciation: "Alya" is pronounced ah-LEE-ah :)**


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